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TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR HISPANICS HELPS TO GENERATE MORE JOBS
With the continuing closing of small businesses across the country, especially within the Latino community, many entrepreneurs that started their own businesses and created jobs for themselves, their families, and others, are now closing their doors. As a result, employees and family are being laid off. Many of these small businesses do not have the information necessary to sustain their businesses and/or to adapt their services and products to the changing economy.
Hispanic Business Consultants (HBC) can be the solution! We assist employers to explore alternatives to layoffs by providing technical assistance to small and new businesses to reduce the rate of business failure. We focus on investing resources towards coaching, training, and professionally advising these business owners so that eventually, they will grow stronger and once again be in a position to generate new jobs for our community.
Read more: TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR HISPANICS HELPS TO GENERATE MORE JOBS
PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS
PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS
HBC has many satisfied participants who have successfully started a wide variety of small businesses, such as restaurants, house-cleaning, beauty salons, small manufacturing companies, bookkeeping services, dry-cleaners, bakeries, and retail stores.
Following are some comments from selected seminar and workshop participants:
Leticia Bucio (Top Finish Collision Center, Inc) wrote the following: My husband and I sometimes look back and try to understand and trace our steps that have made our business what it is today, and we have determined that there have been a couple of people who we feel guided us in the right direction. In 1996 we started with a 2,500 sq.ft. facility and only 2 employees and now we represent and operate a nearly 35,000 sq.ft. business with 25 employees. Without any doubt, we are proud to say that Eduardo Figueroa was a true mentor who facilitated the process in growing our business.
ORGANIZATION EXPERIENCE
ORGANIZATION EXPERIENCE
Contracts and grant for Latino entrepreneurial programs, manage by HBC since 1998.
Hispanic Business Consultants (HBC) has over 16 years of experience training Spanish-speaking people who want to start or expand their own business and create jobs for themselves and others in the community.
HBC’s programs have produced positive and measurable results, as evidenced by the fact that many of the Technical Assistance Program graduates have successfully started and/or expanded a wide range of small businesses, including restaurants, house-cleaning services, beauty salons, small manufacturing companies, bookkeeping services, dry-cleaners, bakeries, graphic and web page designs, retail stores, and others. This means new jobs for our community.
HBC has been managing programs with grants from government agencies and private foundations since 1998. In a 2001-2002 program funded by the Orange County Workforce Investment Board ($92,000), HBC exceeded our goal (450) by serving more than 515 customers. In addition, one hundred (100) students graduated from the 24-hour course “My Successful Business” (Mi Empresa Exitosa, MEE) by writing their feasibility plan. Those graduates created 46 new businesses, generating more than 52 new job positions, including their own. A $45,000 grant from the Santa Ana W/O/R/K Center in 2002-2003, HBC served a total of 685 students (exceeded our goal by 260 participants) and graduated 25 students from the MEE course. In partnership with Delhi Community Center, HBC trained 200 students with two grants, a childcare home-based business and the Santa Ana Empowerment Zone (SAEZ), with a total of $80,000 for both grants.
HOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN REACHING OUT TO THE SPANISH-SPEAKING ENTREPRENEURIAL COMMUNITY.
Many organizations, businesses and government agencies have been trying to reach out the Latino community, especially the Spanish-speaking community. They do it for different reasons. Some to sell their products and services, and others to assist and to help them. Some of these companies and organizations are successful and others asking themselves why their efforts have not had the results that they would like to see.
There is a combination of factors which contribute to the success of programs that are reaching and serving the Spanish-speaking community. Each geographic area is different in the mix of Latino immigrants, their region of origin, Mexicans coming from different states have their own way of speaking, preference of food, music, and the way they dress; their level of education; and time living in this country and level of integration to their communities and the language; without forgetting that everything is changing constantly.
To begin with, the success of those organizations and companies that are serving the Spanish-speaking community with their programs did not happen from one day to the next. It took time, and several years, in many cases.
In the specific case of organizations that are providing technical assistance programs to Hispanic entrepreneurs, here are some of the contributing factors to their success:
- The instructors and leaders of the program are or were entrepreneurs and businesspersons. They have owned several businesses, so they know what it is like. They have had many good and not so good experiences in their businesses, which they share with their audience.
- Instructors have academic education (College degree). This creates a trust in the presenter and leader of the program.
Read more: HOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN REACHING OUT TO THE SPANISH-SPEAKING ENTREPRENEURIAL COMMUNITY.
